DrJack wrote in message news:404CDBFC.8000700@_D_E_L_E_T_E_T_H_I_S_drjack .info...
John Roake, Chairman of the International Gliding Commission's
Membership Committee, has stated (see on-line Gliding Magazine at
http://www.glidingmagazine.com/Featu...cle.asp?id=400) that based
on newly revised FAA statistics the SSA represents less than 50% of
sailplane pilots in the USA. So I found it interesting that in a
recent poll of BLIPMAP users, of the 430 respondents who listed
themselves as a "Sailplane" pilot the percentage who also said they
were SSA members was _91%_.

At the bottom of the Roake report it explained where he got his
numbers. As I read it, 30,000 is the total number of glider licences
or ratings ever granted by the FAA. The vast majority are therefore
likely to be inactive (don't fly anymore) or power pilots with glider
ratings they don't use. This number is probably a gross overcount.
Alas.

John Cochrane BB